The present invention relates to cleaning apparatus for household appliances. More particularly, the invention relates to a simply arranged organization of inexpensive elements forming a system for the utilization of water at typical household pressures to develop high velocity jet streams capable of effectively freeing pipes of debris blockages or for other cleaning purposes.
In the past, debris blockages in household drains have been released by the use of hydraulic pressurization devices, rotating mechanical snaking apparatus or by the application of fluidized toxic chemical compositions, either at atmospheric or at an elevated pressure. None of these solutions have been totally dispositive of the problem. Hydraulic pressurization devices do not clean pipes adequately and may even damage them. The use of snaking equipment requires a significant amount of physical effort to implement and necessitates a high degree of care in order to prevent damage to the pipe being cleaned and to the surrounding work area. The use of chemical flushing compositions, on the other hand, can be hazardous both to the user and to the environment.
Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention has been found to be conducive not only for freeing drains of various household appliances such as sinks, tubs, toilets and garbage disposals but it has also been found to be particularly effective for cleaning narrow neck bottles and for flushing automobile radiators.
The use of fluid jet applicators for material removal is well known. Such devices characteristically employ the high velocity fluid as a medium for propelling a mechanical tool that performs the actual material removal work. Devices of this type are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,554,512; 2,336,293; 3,167,126 and 4,406,332. Other devices, where the material to be removed is dislodged at least in part by a nozzle-created fluid jet are typically employed for subterranean boring, material moving, or the like, and are characteristically of more complicated construction. Such devices are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,448,876 and 4,909,325. U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,971 discloses a hybrid device in which material is removed by means of a drilling assembly in which a plurality of revolving jet streams are created by a nozzle head which is rotated under the impetus of the jet streams.
Such devices, due to their complex design, are too expensive for household use and therefore are typically limited to industrial applications.
It is the development of a simple, inexpensive fluid jet cleaning system effective for household use, therefore, to which the present invention is directed.